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Profile: Friends Of Dolpa

International Journal of Global Health

Friends of Dolpa is a small non-profit organization working directly with Himalayan peoples to improve education and cultural preservation in the remote district of Dolpa, in northwestern Nepal. The organization supports locally managed projects in and near Shey-Phoksundo National Park. Until recently, Pockets of Ancient cultures and unique natural environments have survived intact in Nepal's remote corners. This generation of Dolpali people, no longer isolated, are in a process of defining for themselves how to control and participate in development while maintaining their unique heritage and traditions.

Humanitarian Health Education Programming: Diffusion Of Health Messages Through Folk Media, Archana Daya Shankar

International Journal of Global Health

For several decades, numerous health programs for the underserved have been launched in rural areas of developing countries. World organization, NGO's and government agencies have been allocating a significant portion of their budgets for developing health education programs for underserved population in different parts of the world. The success rate of reaching the goals of these programs has been very slow. For example, in India experience in rural health development has clearly indicated that isolated urban health programs do not provide appropriate assistance to the underserved sections of society (Hedge, 1997).

Medical Relief After An Unnatural Disaster: How International Health Care Providers May Prove Counter-Productive To Recovery, Maureen Mccue

International Journal of Global Health

Equally severe natural disasters that hit equally populous areas produce vastly different impacts and outcomes depending on preexisting political and economic conditions. International relief organizations and civil defense disaster response teams employ effective life saving protocols in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. However, there is little information that addresses the ongoing needs or assesses appropriate responses to the persistent hardships and ill health remaining months after a disastrous event hits an impoverished nation. This article relates the experience of27 volunteer health care workers who provided relief care to Nicaraguan victims of Hurricane Mitch three months after the event. Issues …

Health Assessment Of Bosnian Refugees In Black Hawk County, Iowa, Clementine Mukeshimana

International Journal of Global Health

This study examined the public health status of the Bosnian refugees in Black Hawk County Health, Iowa. A random sample of 557 Bosnian medical records was selected from People's Community Health Clinic. Virtually all Bosnians seek health care at People's Community Health Clinic in Waterloo. High rates of smoking behaviors and dental health problems were the most common health concerns among this group. The Bosnians refugees had rather low hypertension rates, low use of alcohol, healthy weight and a health diet, and low history of cardiovascular diseases.

Information For Authors

International Journal of Global Health

No abstract provided.

Private Choice Versus Public Health: Religion, Morality, And Childhood Vaccination Law, Ross D. Silverman, Thomas May

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Probabilities Of Transition Among Health States For Older Adults, Paula Diehr, Donald L. Patrick

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Goal: To estimate the probabilities of transition among self-rated health states for older adults, and examine how they vary by age and sex. Methods: We used self-rated health (Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor, Dead) collected in two longitudinal studies of older adults (Mean age 75) to estimate the probability of transition in two years. We used the estimates to project future health for selected cohorts.

Findings: These older adults were most likely to be in the same health state 2 years later, but a substantial proportion changed in both directions. Transition probabilities varied by initial health state, age and …

Comparison Of Nutrition And Dental Practices Of International Students At The University Of Northern Iowa Before And After Coming To The United States, Joseph Ogah

International Journal of Global Health

This study examined possible changes in nutrition and dental practices of international students after migration to the United States (US). A random sample of 81 international students at the University of Northern Iowa responded to a mail-in survey in the Fall Semester of 1999 (65% female, 85% over 21 years old, and 54% graduate students). Chi-square analyses showed that, while in the United States, the sample of international students consumed more high fat food (p = .002), more high sugar food (p < .001), more fast food (p < .001), less fruits and vegetables (p = .022), and fewer breakfasts (p= .23) than they did before coming. They also brushed their teeth more (p .031) and sought less dental care (p < .001). No significant changes were observed in the consumptions of cereals, protein products, milk, and high caffeine beverages. It was concluded that some nutrition and dental practices of international students studying in the US change for the worse. Implications for culturally appropriate diet education programming for international college students were discussed.

Information For Authors

International Journal of Global Health

No abstract provided.

Russian Citizens' Trusted Sources Of Health Promotion Information, Cynthia M. Goody, Elizabeth Swanson, Ann L. Bossen, Elena V. Frolova, Olga Kuznetsova, Swajatoslaw Plavinski

International Journal of Global Health

This study examined Russian citizens' trusted sources of health information. A random sample of 906 people, from two villages in St. Petersburg, Russia, responded to a health needs assessment questionnaire. Results suggest that medical professionals and special books, such as informational pamphlets about treating a myriad of illnesses, are significant trusted sources of health information for people in Russia. Further, these data suggest differences between trusted sources of health information exist between villages rather than by gender or age group. This work has implications for health care practitioners in Russia, who are advancing the discipline of family practice, as well …

Evidence For The Importance Of Community Involvement: Implications For Initiatives To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission Of Hiv, Ann Leonard, Purnima Mane, Naomi Rutenberg

HIV and AIDS

This paper offers lessons learned from a literature review of community involvement in biomedical and other technologies that can guide appropriate and effective introduction of services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. A companion paper discusses research in Botswana and Zambia that showed gaps in community knowledge about HIV transmission, particularly from mother to child, and yielded insights into community perspectives about barriers to using voluntary counseling and testing services; stigma and fear associated with HIV; traditional norms on breastfeeding; and the role of family and community members in women’s decisions to participate in programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission …

Pick-Me-Up Newsletter - Issue 1, Volume 1, Nova Southeastern University

Pick Me Up Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Profile: Global Health Corps Short-Term Health Education Missions, Linda K. Miller

International Journal of Global Health

Global Health Corps is a non -profit organization that provides a field -based training program for post-secondary students in the area of cross-cultural community health. Students practice a variety of culturally appropriate community health activities domestically in the United States, as well as villages and shantytowns around the world. Preventive health activities include basic health assessments, hypertension clinics, program evaluations, health fairs, breastfeeding promotion, hygiene programs, fitness promotion, safety and first-aid programs, violence prevention programs, and educational programs on topics such as nutrition, dental health , prenatal care, well-baby care, reproductive health , infectious disease prevention, cancer prevention, school health …

Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus Aureus In A Home Health-Care Patient, Jeffrey C. Hageman, David A. Pegues, Carrie Jepson, Rose Lee Bell, Mary Guinan, Kevin W. Ward, Martin D. Cohen, Janet A. Hindler, Fred C. Tenover, Sigrid K. Mcallister, Molly E. Kellum, Scott K. Fridkin

School of Public Health Faculty Research

To date, four of the eight cases of infection by Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus [VISA] or glycopeptideintermediate S. aureus [GISA]) have been reported in the United States (1-3). We report a fifth case of VISA infection in the United States, and the first to occur during home health-care therapy. While all previous VISA strains have been oxacillin resistant, one of the two VISA strains identified in this investigation was oxacillin susceptible.

Pick-Me-Up Newsletter - Issue 2, Volume 1, Nova Southeastern University

Pick Me Up Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

International Journal of Global Health

No abstract provided.

Cultural Competence In Epidemiological Field Work With Cultures In Flux: Romania, Diane Depken, Catherine Zeman

International Journal of Global Health

This article is a case study of conducting field -based epidemiological work in a former communist country. A brief background of Romanian history and culture is followed by discussion of the challenges of doing epidemiological science in a culture experiencing socio-political flux. In this former communist country where a common understanding of specific methods of epidemiological science and research ethics is not necessarily shared by both visiting and indigenous scientists, successful fieldwork depends on a high degree of understanding, sensitivity, and patience. The United States Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, OMH provides guidelines for culturally …

Hiv Voluntary Counseling And Testing Among Youth Ages 14 To 21: Results From An Exploratory Study In Nairobi, Kenya, And Kampala And Masaka, Uganda, Horizons Program, Kenya Project Partners, Uganda Project Partners

HIV and AIDS

HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) programs increase safe sexual behavior and use of care and support services among adults. By helping clients learn their HIV serostatus and creating a personalized HIV risk-reduction plan, VCT can provide the information and support necessary to change risky behaviors that could lead to HIV infection or transmission. Counseling and a risk-reduction plan are the key features distinguishing VCT from other HIV testing services. VCT has become a widely advocated HIV/AIDS prevention strategy among adults. Sixty percent of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, however, occur among young people ages 10–24. Because few …

Community Involvement In The Prevention Of Mother-To-Child Transmission Of Hiv: Insights And Recommendations, Naomi Rutenberg, Mary Lyn Field-Nguer, Laura Nyblade

HIV and AIDS

Mother-to-child transmission is the primary route of HIV infection in children under 15 years of age. Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, an estimated 5.1 million children worldwide have been infected with HIV. Clinical trials in several countries have shown that mother-to-child transmission of HIV can be greatly reduced through administering antiretroviral therapy to pregnant women. These trials culminated in a recommendation by UNAIDS and its partners in the Interagency Task Team for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission that prevention of perinatal transmission should be a part of the standard package of care for HIV-positive women and their children. …

Globalization, Diet, And Health: An Example From Tonga, Mike Evans, Robert C. Sinclair, Caroline Fusimalohi, Viliami Liava’A

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The increased flow of goods, people, and ideas associated with globalization have contributed to an

increase in noncommunicable diseases in much of the world. One response has been to encourage lifestyle changes with educational programmes, thus controlling the lifestyle-related disease. Key assumptions with this approach are that people’s food preferences are linked to their consumption patterns, and that consumption patterns can be transformed through educational initiatives. To investigate these assumptions, and policies that derive from it, we undertook a broad-based survey of food-related issues in the Kingdom of Tonga using a questionnaire. Data on the relationships between food preferences, perception …

The Global Health Corps: Bringing The Power Of Prevention To The People, Michele Yehieli

International Journal of Global Health

The Global Health Corps is now recognized as a model program for improving the cultural competency of health related pre-professionals, and recently received $1,000,000 of federal funding through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration fix its operations. It is also the winner of the 1999 Governor's Award for Excellence in Diversity Programming from the state of Iowa, and the Human Rights Award for Black Hawk County, Iowa. Amazingly, in just a few years time, the Global Health Corps has already trained nearly 200 students and served more than 10,000 at risk clients around the world. Through their efforts, students …

Borrelia Lonestari Infection After A Bite By An Amblyomma Americanum Tick, Angela M. James, Dionysios Liveris, Gary P. Wormser, Ira Schwartz, Marisa A. Montecalvo, Barbara J. B. Johnson

United States Public Health Resources

Erythematous rashes that are suggestive of early Lyme disease have been associated with the bite of Amblyomma americanum ticks, particularly in the southern United States. However, Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, has not been cultured from skin biopsy specimens from these patients, and diagnostic serum antibodies usually have not been found. Borrelia lonestari sp nov, an uncultured spirochete, has been detected in A. americanum ticks by DNA amplification techniques, but its role in human illness is unknown. We observed erythema migrans in a patient with an attached A. americanum tick. DNA amplification of the flagellin gene …

The Unequal Cancer Burden: Efforts Of The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention To Bridge The Gap Through Public Health, Nancy C. Lee

United States Public Health Resources

Despite the broad advances made in cancer research and interventions in the last quarter of a century, inequality still persists as we confront challenges arising from the unequal burden of cancer among Americans. Some racial and ethnic minorities, people with low incomes, those in rural areas, and other medically underserved populations suffer disproportionately from cancer. We know, for example, that African Americans are about 34% more likely to die of cancer than whites and more than two times more likely to die of cancer than Asian/Pacific Islanders, American Indians, or Hispanics.

Disparities also exist among the major racial and ethnic …

Helmet Laws And Motorcycle Rider Death Rates, Charles C. Branas, M. Margaret Knudson

United States Public Health Resources

We investigated motorcycle rider death rates between states with full motorcycle helmet laws and those without. This was done using both unadjusted bivariate analyses and multivariate random-effects generalized least squares regression models of rider death rates. Multivariate models were adjusted for the competing influences of several explanatory variables, including the existence of a motorcycle helmet law. From 1994 to 1996, states with helmet laws experienced a median death rate of 6.20 riders per 10 000 registered motorcycles and states without helmet laws experienced a median death rate of 5.07 riders per 10 000 registered motorcycles (P=0.008). After controlling for other …

Evidence For Nonacetylcholinesterase Targets Of Organophosphorus Nerve Agent: Supersensitivity Of Acetylcholinesterase Knockout Mouse To Vx Lethality, Ellen G. Duysen, Bin Li, Weihua Xie, Lawrence M. Schopfer, Robert S. Anderson, Clarence A. Broomfield, Oksana Lockridge

United States Public Health Resources

The possibility that organophosphate toxicity is due to inhibition of targets other than acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) was examined in AChE knockout mice. Mice (34–55 days old) were grouped for this study, after it was determined that AChE, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and carboxylesterase activities had reached stable values by this age. Mice with 0, 50, or 100% AChE activity were treated subcutaneously with the nerve agent VX. The LD₅₀ for VX was 10 to 12 µg/kg in AChE-/-, 17 µg/kg in AChE+/-, and 24 µg/kg in AChE+/- mice. The same cholinergic signs of toxicity were present in AChE-/- mice as …

Characterization Of Immunoglobulin Binding To Isolated Human Erythrocyte Membranes: Evidence For Selective, Temperature-Induced Binding Of Naturally Occurring Autoantibodies To The Cytoskeleton, James M. Salhany, Karen S. Cordes, Renee L. Sloan

United States Public Health Resources

Human plasma contains naturally occurring autoantibodies to the predominant components of the erythrocyte membrane: band 3 and spectrin bands 1 and 2 of the cytoskeleton. The titer of cytoskeletal plasma autoantibodies increases in various hemolytic conditions, suggesting that opsonization of the cytoskeleton may play an important role in the clearance of hemolyzed (not senescent) erythrocytes from the circulation. In this study, we use Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-human IgG conjugate (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA), to characterize plasma immunoglobulin binding to erythrocyte membranes from osmotically hemolyzed cells (`ghosts'). The results show that exposure of ghosts to plasma results in 4-fold …

Transitions To Adulthood In The Context Of Aids In South Africa: Report Of Wave I, Naomi Rutenberg, Cathrien Kehus-Alons, Lisanne Brown, Kate Macintyre, Anthea Dallimore, Carol E. Kaufman

HIV and AIDS

This is a prospective study of reproductive behavior and sexual health of adolescents in South Africa as well as their education and employment experiences, family and environmental conditions, and other factors in their lives that may influence their sexual behavior and choices. This report is designed to inform educators, policymakers, and the public in South Africa and beyond of the initial findings of the study, with the ultimate goal of helping to design and refine policies and programs that will improve opportunities and capacities of adolescents and may contribute to changing behaviors and choices. The report focuses on describing the …

Prevention Of Trafficking And The Care And Support Of Trafficked Persons In The Context Of An Emerging Hiv/Aids Epidemic In Nepal, Celine Daly

HIV and AIDS

This study is a collaborative effort between the Asia Foundation (Kathmandu) and the Horizons project of the Population Council (New Delhi) to document the current intervention models and community-based study of human trafficking in the context of an emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nepal. To address the human rights component of trafficking, the three components of this study focus on the rights and needs of trafficked persons as well as those who are vulnerable to trafficking. An analysis and assessment of the effectiveness of laws, policies, and interventions in the apprehension, prosecution, and conviction of alleged traffickers is not included in …

Interventions To Reduce Hiv/Aids Stigma: What Have We Learned?, Lisanne Brown, Lea Trujillo, Kate Macintyre

HIV and AIDS

Stigma is a common human reaction to disease. Throughout history many diseases have carried considerable stigma, including leprosy, tuberculosis, cancer, mental illness, and many sexually transmitted diseases. HIV/AIDS is only the latest disease to be stigmatized. This paper reviews 21 interventions that have explicitly attempted to decrease AIDS stigma both in the developed and developing countries and 9 studies that aim to decrease stigma related with other diseases. The studies selected met stringent evaluation criteria in order to draw common lessons for future development of interventions to combat stigma. This paper assesses published and reported studies through comparison of audiences, …

Acceptability Of The Female Condom After A Social Marketing Campaign In Campinas, Brazil, Horizons Program

HIV and AIDS

The female condom is a relatively new product that is intended to serve the dual role of protecting against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Recent research has found moderate to high levels of initial trial and acceptance of the female condom among women. However, information is lacking about its continued use, particularly among women at high risk of HIV and other STIs. The female condom was registered in Brazil in January 1997 and since then has been available commercially through DKT, a social marketing organization. In addition to socially marketed female condoms, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has …